When Tom Dunning, BBA ’65, Life Member, was a student at UT, tuition was just $50 a year. Today, a single semester on the Forty Acres will run you between $5,500 and $6,000—a daunting fact that prompted Dunning and his wife, Sally, to give back through Texas Exes scholarships.

Dunning, who is chairman emeritus of Dallas’ Lockton Dunning Benefits, has recently signed on as the chair of fundraising efforts for the Forty Acres Scholars Program—the premier full-ride, merit-based scholarship for The University of Texas at Austin. His goal: to help raise $150 million to expand the program to 200 scholars, far surpassing the 23 currently on campus.

“We were losing many of our best and brightest students, who were getting full rides to schools like Virginia, North Carolina, and many of the Ivy League schools,” Dunning says. “The Forty Acres Scholars Program is about identifying the most outstanding scholars and leaders. We want the very, very best to stay in Texas and to attend UT."

And Dunning has played a vital role in making that happen. He and Sally personally support the Forty Acres Scholars Program. Marisa Swanson, a bright young woman from Grand Prairie, Texas, who is majoring in Plan II Honors and Social Work, currently holds the Dunnings’ Forty Acres Scholarship. She turned down her acceptance to Harvard when she was offered the scholarship to UT.

“The Forty Acres Scholars Program has been the greatest experience,” Swanson says. “[Tom Dunning] is literally the greatest man to have given me this blessing and opportunity.”

The admiration goes both ways. Dunning says that when Swanson walks into a room, she has a wonderful presence.

“She is just terrific,” he says. “She was very involved with nonprofits while she was in high school, because she is always looking to help others. It is very exciting for us to see how well she is doing at UT.”

Swanson’s passion for social work is also shared by the Dunnings.

“Both my wife and I, through our civic work and working with nonprofits and with city and state boards, have worked with a number of outstanding social workers,” Dunning says. “We have seen the positive impact they make on so many people and families. Social workers are truly the thread that holds the fabric of society together.”

He hopes that Swanson gets the same great experience he had while attending school on the Forty Acres. Thanks to encouragement from the late Shirley Bird Perry, Dunning took on leadership roles in many campus organizations—including Sigma Phi Epsilon and the Silver Spurs—which later led him to become an active leader in Dallas and the state of Texas.

“I’ve often said that if I had not gone to UT, I might not know who I am today,” Dunning says. “It’s where I met my wife, discovered what business I wanted to go into, and found lifelong friends. It all comes back to attending UT.”

Tom Dunning and Marisa Swanson.